Haikyuu!!: The Disaster of Gamers

A thin mist hung in the air over Tokyo in the morning. Inside the hotel restaurant, the crisp sounds of cutlery clattering against plates filled the air.

Lu Jianguo kept his promise; the top-grade Wagyu beef, flown in by air, was made into a hearty breakfast burger. Lu Ren took a big bite, the fat melting in his mouth. He rubbed his still-sore thigh muscles. Yesterday's high-intensity battle with Inarisaki had completely depleted his stamina. After a night's sleep, his health had barely returned to a safe level.

"Eat more, make up for the weight you lost yesterday." Lu Xin put another piece of meat on her son's plate.

Qingze Yazhi sat opposite, biting her straw: "Today's challenge was even more grueling than yesterday's. Yinju and his gang are masters at wearing down your health."

Lu Ren swallowed his food and wiped his hands with a napkin. He opened the notes app on his phone, which was filled with detailed data about Nekoma's performance in the qualifiers: defensive stickiness, the luring movement of the grinding technique, and the timing of Black Tail's blocks.

"The attrition mechanic." Lu Ren tapped the screen. "I hate bosses that don't give us a quick kill. The core of the Sound Horse's system is that supercomputer called Kozume Grinding. It collects our data by constantly pulling us back and forth, then builds a model, and finally traps us in the rules."

"So what do you plan to do?" Ya-zhi asked.

"Every system has vulnerabilities." Lu Ren stuffed the last bite of his hamburger into his mouth. "The best way to deal with a host with extremely high computing power is to feed it a massive amount of junk data, causing its CPU to overload."

The bus headed towards the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

The restlessness I felt yesterday when facing Inarisaki was gone from the train carriage.

Sawamura Daichi leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes to rest. Higashimine Asahi adjusted the straps of his knee brace. Tanaka Ryunosuke, unusually, didn't shout, but instead listened to heavy metal rock with his headphones on.

Hotaru Tsukishima, wearing noise-canceling headphones, flipped through a volleyball magazine in her hand. Tadashi Yamaguchi, standing beside her, checked his notes on the serving rotations.

Hinata Shoyo leaned against the car window, watching the street recede outside. Kageyama Tobio next to him did finger exercises with his eyes closed.

Having experienced yesterday's fierce battle that tore their bodies and minds apart and forced them to rebuild, the Karasuno team has changed. Their naivety and panic have faded, revealing a hardened and resilient spirit forged in fire.

Ukai Shishin sat in the front row, flipping through the tactics board. Against Nekoma. The final battle in the junkyard. This was a match Ukai's former coach had waited far too long for.

"We've arrived." Teacher Takeda stood up.

The car door opened. Cold air rushed into the carriage.

The Karasuno team members filed out and lined up to walk towards the athletes' tunnel.

Just as they rounded the corner of the flowerbed at the security checkpoint, another group of people in red tracksuits walked towards them.

Yinju High School.

The two teams stopped less than five meters apart.

People came and went in the passageway, with other participating teams and staff moving about. But within those five meters, the atmosphere became unusually heavy.

Kuroo Tetsurou walked at the front, his hands in his pockets. Kozume Kenma kept his head down, still holding a game console, the screen of which was not lit. Yoru Eisuke, Hisense, Yamamoto Taketora, and Haiba Reifu were all present.

There was none of the warm greetings that we had during the training camp.

Yamamoto didn't roar at Tanaka. Kuroo didn't raise his hand to greet him. Kenma didn't look towards Hyuga's direction much either.

Sawamura Daichi stopped, his gaze passing through the air and striking Kuroo Tetsurou directly.

Both of them stood very straight.

Lu Ren stood at the back of the line, zipping up his team uniform jacket. He could hear Hinata's heavy breathing and the cracking sound of Kageyama's knuckles.

No one spoke.

Yesterday we were still friends who could sit down together to eat barbecue and discuss tactics.

Today, standing here, only the winners can move forward, and the losers must pack up and go home.

This is a national competition.

Kuroo Tetsuro turned his head and slightly raised his chin.

Daichi Sawamura returned a slight nod.

The two teams passed each other, brushing past each other.

The red and black team uniforms clashed in the narrow passage, the fabric rubbing together with a soft sound.

As Lu Ren passed by Moyan, Moyan looked up.

"You can't get past this hurdle." Mo Yan's voice was very low, only the two of them could hear it.

Lu Ren stopped and turned to the side: "I'm going to take down your firewall."

Enter the main stadium.

The stands were already full of spectators. Onkoma's support group unfurled a banner that read "Wei Qi" (meaning "Keep Together").

Lu Jianguo didn't bring the suona band today. He changed into a low-key dark suit, sat in the front row, and held a high-definition camera in his hand.

"Not blowing today?" asked Grandpa Zhang next to me.

"We won't use those underhanded tactics today." Lu Jianguo adjusted the focus. "This is their own battle."

In the locker room, Coach Ukai drew a diagram of Otoko's positions on a whiteboard.

Lu Ren took a marker and drew a circle on the grinding area.

"In Nekoma's system, Kenma is the only processor. Yoru and Kuroo are the antivirus software and firewall. Our previous opponents, Shiratorizawa, were numerical monsters, and Inarisaki was a multi-core driver. But Nekoma is different. They are an old server that has been running for many years. The hardware is not top-of-the-line, but the code is extremely well-written and has no bugs."

Coach Uyang nodded: "So, how should we play?"

Lu Ren drew several attack routes on the whiteboard: "Conventional strong attacks are ineffective against them. We need to create 'memory overflow.' Hyuga's movement is key. He needs to constantly make ineffective runs at the net to attract the grinding power. At the same time, our serves must target specific players, preventing them from comfortably organizing their first pass."

"Who are you looking for?" Tadashi Yamaguchi asked.

"Find Lev." Lu Ren pointed to the edge of the whiteboard. "He's the latest patch in this system, not fully compatible yet. Attacking him will cause the entire system to lag."

Karasuno spread out in the halfway point and began warming up.

The sound of volleyballs hitting the floor echoed repeatedly.

Lu Ren stood in front of the net, stretching. He watched Ye Jiuweifu practicing receiving the ball on the opposite half of the court.

That's a libero with an absurdly large defensive range. Yesterday against Inarisaki, Lu Ren forcibly activated Yoru's defensive module, which was extremely effective, but put a tremendous strain on his body.

Today, if you confront the original product head-on, you'll suffer a loss.

"Hyuga." Lu Ren waved.

Hinata ran over, sweat already beading on her forehead.

"When the game starts, don't worry about tactics yet," Lu Ren said in a low voice. "Use your maximum range of movement to break their defenses. Don't follow any patterns; the more chaotic, the better. The Mind Machine is a supercomputer, specializing in detecting patterns. We need to feed it garbage data."

Hinata nodded vigorously: "Leave it to me!"

Kageyama walked over and tossed a volleyball to Rikuren: "How many modules can you run today?"

"I won't let a single one run away." Lu Ren twirled the ball in his hand. "Yesterday we were forced into a corner. Today, I'm going to use Karasuno's own system to crush them."

Hotaru Tsukishima walked over and adjusted her glasses: "Otokoma's blocking system is very complete, and Kuroo's man-to-man defense will limit our main attackers."

"That's why we need you as a rational filter." Lu Ren tossed the ball to Tsukishima. "Kuroo likes to scheme, and so do you. The net game is yours. No need for hard blocks, just disrupt their attack routes and buy half a second for the back row."

Tsukishima snorted and walked away with the ball.

The referee blew the whistle to signal the start of the assembly.

Both teams' starting lineups moved towards the baseline.

Ukai Shishin stood on the sidelines, watching the group of boys. He remembered what his grandfather had once said: The battle between a crow and a cat is never about size and strength, but about resilience and intelligence.

"Let's go." Wu Yang only said these two words.

Daichi Sawamura led the entire team to the net.

On the other side of the net is the Nekoma team led by Kuroo Tetsurou.

The two teams faced each other across the net.

The overhead light shone on the wooden floor, reflecting dazzling bright spots.

Lu Ren stood in the back row, adjusting his breathing.

His mind quickly cleared away all distractions, entering a state of absolute rationality known as "game mode."

In their field of vision, virtual data bars appeared above the heads of each player in the Sound Horse team.

Defense rating, stamina rating, reaction speed.

"Copy loading complete," Lu Ren muttered to himself.

The referee raised his arm high, with the whistle in his mouth.

The whole place fell silent.

This is a fateful showdown that has been built up over decades.

The decisive battle at the landfill has officially begun.

The referee blows the whistle.

Tobio Kageyama stood in the service court. Instead of opting for a powerful jump serve, he served a tactically targeted jump float serve.

The volleyball traced a strange arc in the air, heading straight for the blind spot in the back row of the Nekoma.

Yoruichi slid his feet and fell to the ground in an extremely relaxed posture, his arms steadily supporting the ball.

The first pass was perfectly delivered.

Kuzaki Grind stands at the net, his fingers touching the ball.

Karasuno's blockers moved quickly.

Mojin's gaze fell on Yamamoto Takeo on the left wing, but his wrist flipped within a fraction of a second of contact with the ball.

Passed down from behind.

The ball flew towards Hisense on the right wing.

Hotaru Tsukishima had already followed, her arms outstretched, blocking the straight line.

Hisense didn't launch a strong attack; instead, with a flick of its wrist, it delivered a clever drop shot.

The volleyball went over the block and landed in an opening in Karasuno's defense.

Yuu Nishitani dives to save the ball, lifting it up before it hits the ground.

"Counterattack!" Daichi Sawamura shouted.

Lu Ren pulled up from the back.

Hinata Shoyo runs at the net at an extremely fast speed.

Kageyama Tobio pushed the ball towards the middle.

Hyuga jumps and swings his arm.

Tetsuro Kuroo and Reifu Haiba are in position for their double block.

Hyuga's spike slammed heavily onto Lev's arm and bounced back into Karasuno's half of the court.

Lu Ren was already waiting there, and steadily caught the blocked ball.

"Again!" Lu Ren passed the ball to Ying Shan.

This round of tug-of-war has only just begun.

Otoko's defense was like a highly elastic net; no matter how hard Karasuno pounded on it, the force could be deflected, and the ball could be returned.

Lu Ren's brain was working at high speed. He was observing Mo Ran's movements and calculating Ye Jiu's defensive radius.

"We can't follow their rhythm," Lu Ren directed the players' movements on the field. "Stretch the battle lines!"

Higashi Mine Asahi spread out on the left wing, while Tanaka Ryunosuke prepared on the right wing.

Attack from multiple points.

Kageyama passed the ball to Higashimine.

Heavy artillery bombardment.

The call was answered again after a long night.

The number of rounds is increasing. The players' stamina is being depleted rapidly.

This is Otoko's tactic. They want to drag Karasuno into a quagmire, exhausting its patience and stamina in an endless tug-of-war.

Lu Ren was panting heavily. He knew that this match was not only a test of skill, but also of willpower.

"Come on," Lu Ren said, staring at Mo Ren on the other side of the net. "Let's see who gives up first."